Summary
After being beaten by her husband, Janet finds him bleeding on their front room floor. With the evidence piling against her; she was holding a bloody bat and was covered in blood when the EMT's walked in, the cops accused her of murder. Frightened she runs. 
She gets a ride out of town from a truck driver named Sam, claiming her name is Jackie
Seeing the blood on her dress, he holds her at gunpoint, demanding an explanation. 
Believing her story, Sam takes her to a truck stop so she can get cleaned up. Seeing a news bulletin on the TV about her being a murder suspect Sam leaves.
Jackie formerly Janet finds out she's been abandoned and then sees the bulletin on the TV. She runs to the bathroom grabbing hair dye and scissors on the way. The now red-headed Jackie asks another trucker for a ride only to find out he's a rapist and she's trapped in his cab. She escapes. Henry an old farmer takes her to his house.
 Hearing about the shooting on the news, Henry tell his wife.
The assassin tied up,  tortured and killed Beth's abusive husband, Steve. The motel manager planned to rape her in exchange for the room.  she hits him over the head.
The police are informed that there have been two murders.

The team is processing the scene when Joe and Rachel pull into the driveway. Kirk runs to their cruiser as they climb out of the car.

"What can you tell me, Kirk?"

"We have two bodies, Sergeant. Steve is in the barn and his wife, Beth is under an oak tree around back."

"I knew she'd end up like this, I just knew it,"  he stomps across the yard.

He and Beth's relationship started in high school. She moved to town just weeks after Janet married that monster, Bill. Joe, grief-stricken over his friend and her upset over her move; they found comfort in each other's company and became inseparable soon after. Joe wanted to propose when they finished school, but weeks before graduation, he finds out she's marrying Steve. 

~~~~

"I love you, Joe, I really do. You're the best friend a girl could ever ask for and I treasure our time together." She tearfully takes his hands in hers. "You'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what life throws our way."

Wiping tears from her beautiful face, he drops to his knee. "Then marry me instead of Steve. I promise to take care of you to love, honor and cherish you for the rest of my days."

"I love you as a friend, Joe but that's all it'll ever be." she runs for the door.

"You'll learn to love me, Beth; you'll learn to love me," he says as she fades out of sight.
~~~

If you'd only married me. He wipes a tear trickling down his face as he continues across the yard.

He sees Steve's mutilated body dangling from a rope when he steps in the barn. The bastard finally got what he deserves. Smiling to himself, he walks towards the victim. "This's definitely a frenzied attack, unlike the first which was planned, organized. Bill was hit in the head where Steve was mutilated and dismembered."

"He was hit in the head too," the ME says, glancing up from her report.

"What's the cause of death, Sharon?"

"I won't be certain until I examine him further, but if I had to guess, I'd say the stab wound to his lungs caused his demise."

"Steve kills Beth; someone sees she's dead and kills him. Since the person buried Beth but left him here, I'd say our second killer is someone who really cares for her, maybe a lover former or present." Joe concludes as he walks around his body again.

"That's very possible, Joe."

"We found the murder weapon, sir." Kirk holds up a bloody knife and then continues, "I got a partial fingerprint off of the handle. I believe it'll be enough for a match. We also found a fresh shoe print in the soil. I'd say it's from a lady's boot because of its pattern and size. I'll know for sure when I get the impression to the lab."

"A lady did all of this?" Joe points towards Steve's mangled corpse.

"I believe so, sir."

"The killer must have a lot of pent-up rage."

Rachel walks up beside them. "I did a walkthrough of the home. It looks like he kills her in the bedroom and then drags her to their barn."

"Make sure our crime unit gets samples of blood."

"It's already done." She walks around the gruesome crime scene. "The killer could be her lover like you said, or she could be his old girlfriend, jilted lover, maybe his ex. Where did you say Beth is buried, Kirk?"

"She's under an oak tree out back." They follow him to her grave.

There are rose petals scattered across the freshly dug soil. A cross is planted at one end. Roses are circling around it and two larger ones lying by her head.

"Whoever buried her put a lot of time and effort into it. So they must've cared a lot about her." Rachel walks around Beth's grave. "Does she have any family?"

"Her mom and dad live in Florida."

"How about siblings?"

"She has an older sister, but she's locked up in a mental ward," Joe answers.

"Someone really loves her to go through this much trouble."

***

Jackie is sipping coffee at the kitchen table when she overhears Henry and Martha on their porch.

"Maybe she killed him in self-defense, Henry."

"I think we should call the cops and let them figure it out."

Overhearing their conversation, Janet plops her cup on the table. I've got to get out of here. Jackie runs out the back door.

Horrid events replay in her mind as she darts across the field. She first remembers Bill bleeding on their front room floor. She then recalls how the metal cuffs felt against her wrists. The way the officer dragged her across the lawn. The looks her neighbors gave her as she's being taken to the ambulance. She remembers her fear when she sees her picture on TV. She then recalls how the trucker shoved her face in his lap and the stench of his nasty pecker. The putrid mix of blood and brain matter as it scatters across his cab. How she was nearly run over when she tried to get away.

"I can't take it anymore, I can't, I just can't." She exhaustedly plops down in the field. Maybe I should stop being so stupid and turn myself in. Bill's degrading comments echo in her head.

"You can't do nothing right. I don't know why I even married a good for nothing dimwit like you anyhow."

"You're right, Bill I am a dimwit. A good for nothing dunce like you said. Timmy would be a lot better off if he was with anyone but me," she cries. Jackie remembers holding Timmy for the very first time. The way it felt when his little body cuddled against her. How he gazed up at her with his beautiful blue eyes. She then recalls all the fun times they shared. The way she chased him around the park, how they built sandcastles all afternoon. She pictures him crying for her as she's being taken away. "He needs me, my baby really needs me," she bawls. I've got to keep going for his sake. She dries her face as she continues across the field.

Jackie runs up to an old log cabin nestled deep against a mountain. An overabundance of vines encompasses its exterior which makes it difficult to see. I could hide in there. The dogs will find me if I do. She then notices an old rusty pickup in the garage. I wonder if it'll start. She weaves her hand through a mass of cobwebs and grabs a screwdriver from the pile of tools. I hope I can remember what Jimmy showed me.

Her first boyfriend made a comfortable living stealing fancy cars.

"We could make tons of money if we partnered up," he suggests.

She was all for the idea at first but chickened out before their big heist. I have too much at stake to back out this time, she thinks as she hops in the truck.

***

The killer is running around her motel room trying to find something that'll suffice as a restraint. She rips out the phone cord and then secures the manager's hands to her bed. She grabs her charger from her bag and ties his legs to the frame. She sees that Willie is awake when she glances over.

"You like kinky sex, do you? Well, I'm all for that; rough sex too." He winks.

Realizing his manhood standing at attention, memories of her horrid childhood come to mind.

~~~

Her Uncle rips off her clothes and tosses her on the bed.

"Please, no more," she begs, feeling painfully raw from the night before.

"How else do you expect me to react, when you flaunt everything when you bend over?"

 She carefully slips her hand under the pillow.

"Maybe next time you won't be such a tease." Rubbing his hardness, he climbs onto the bed.

She grabs a knife from under her pillow and stabs him in the heart.

~~~

I'm going to take care of you just like I did him. She pulls her cord tighter.

"Hey, not so tight, doll face."

"That's going to be the least of your worries soon."

"What are you going to do to me? I hope it's something really kinky." He licks his lips.

"I'm going to take care of your sexual problem once and for all," she says as she glares into his eyes.

"W...what are you going to do?"

"You'll see." She searches for her knife.


Characters
Steve Beth's abusive husband deceased.
Beth deceased, the assassin best friend.
Janet Smith (Jackie) accused killer.
Bill Smith Janet/ Jackies husband deceased
Timmy Smith Janet/Jackie and Bill's child
Henry, Farmer 
Martha, Henry's wife

Berryvillle PD
Joe, Sergeant
Jerry, Detective 
Rachel, Detective
Kirk Forensic Analyst
Sharon Medical Examiner